Glancing down at Casey, I held him a little tighter, his hazel eyes staring back up at me, then I walked us over to Darcy, not wanting to be on the sidelines anymore.
EPILOGUE
DARCY
Three months later
I had my thighs wrapped around Archer’s hips, as he drove us through the streets of downtown on his motorcycle. Linnea and my mom were watching Casey for the evening so that we could have a much needed date night. He hadn’t told me where we were going, and when we first took off, I thought I knew where we were headed, but as he drove us further from town, all of my guesses were disproven.
When we turned down a dirt road that emptied into a clearing thirty minutes outside of town, I was confused. There was nothing here. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The setting sun cast a warm golden light over the vast field before us, and a tiny stream steadily trickled to our right. There was a massive willow tree sitting along the bank, and a hedge of cattails a little furtherdown that were swaying gently in the late summer breeze. It was a gorgeous view, but I wasn’t sure what our date night could entail here. He hadn’t told me to dress for a hike, and I didn’t see a trail entrance anywhere, so maybe this was a pit stop?
Pulling our helmets off, he peered over his shoulder at me. “What do you think?”
“I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way because it’s gorgeous, but what are we doing here?” I asked, dismounting and walking to stand next to the front of the bike.
“Well, I packed us a picnic,” he started, but then his eyes trailed down my sundress. Before I knew what he was doing, he grabbed my hips and hauled me back onto the motorcycle, straddling it so I was facing him. His lips brushed over the sensitive skin right below my ear. “But now I’m thinking I want to do something else.”
The hands gripping my ass pulled me closer to him, forcing my legs up over his thighs until I was almost in his lap. I shifted, sucking in a deep breath at the feel of him hard and fully erect beneath me. My pulse thrummed in my ears as one of his hands skated up my spine to grip the back of my neck firmly.
“Archer.” I squirmed, my body wanting to get closer to him, but a small part of me was hesitant the way it always was when Archer and I were together since giving birth.
“Darcy,” he growled into my neck, his hands gripping me tighter, knowing what was coming next.
I sighed, a sound caught somewhere between contentment and exasperation, but not with him—with myself. I had mostly come to terms with my C-section. It wasn’t how I’d wanted to give birth, but it was necessary for both mine and Casey’s survival. And while I tried to view my scar as a badass battle wound, it had unlocked a new insecurity I’d never had before. My body was different, and I wasn’t sure how to be confident in it anymore. Sure, I was slowly getting my abs back, but myhips were wider and so was my rib cage. My boobs were bigger, but less firm despite not having breastfed, and the combination of all of it had my clothes fitting differently. Everything was . . .different. And despite Archer’s reassurances, I found it hard to believe that nothing was different for him.
His mouth stilled over my skin, and he lifted his head, the glow of the sun reflecting in the green of his irises giving him an otherworldly appearance.
“I’m sorry,” I groaned. “I know it’s stupid, I just . . . I’m not the same anymore.”
“You’re not,” he agreed without hesitation. “You’re better.”
I rolled my eyes, hating that I was making him say the same thing he’d said a dozen times to me again.
His hand at the back of my neck moved to grip my chin, forcing my shocked gaze to his. “Roll your eyes at me again, and I’ll give them a real reason to roll.”
Fuck me.
“Now, listen to me very closely. I’m going to say this one more time, and then I don’t ever want to have to defend you to yourself again. Understood?” His voice had me growing hot, and I nodded as much as his hold would allow. “You arethemost stunning creature on this planet. You were sexy before and you’re sexy now. The only thing having our baby has done to my attraction to you is amplified it to unhealthy amounts. You could have a hundred scars, and I’d spend the rest of forever cherishing each and every one of them.” He lifted the hem of my dress to reveal the scar in question.
“There is nothing ugly about this.” With a gentle hand, he pushed me until I was bent back over the fuel tank. His mouth hovered over the six inches of pink skin, his eyes burning into mine. “It is beautiful.”
Kiss.
“It is strength.”
Kiss.
“It is power.”
Kiss.
“It is a goddamn masterpiece.”
Kiss.
My breath hitched in my lungs with every descent of his lips, and my body shivered despite the August heat. He’d never said all that before, but it was everything I needed to hear.
“Do I make myself perfectly fucking clear?”
